Three areas Liverpool need to strengthen in January

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Right wing

Sadio Mane has been a revelation since joining from Southampton last summer for an eye-watering £34 million. But his imminent departure to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal will leave Liverpool with a massive void to fill. Mane could miss up to a month of football while he is with his national side – a key period of the domestic season. Although nominally a winger, Mane has weighed in with eight Premier League goals this season – some of them spectacular – which have gone a long way to repaying the huge amount of money with which Liverpool parted to obtain his signature.

Klopp has dismissed rumours in the media linking the Reds with a move for Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who could be described as being a like-for-like replacement for Mane. In the past, Liverpool have also been said to have been interested in Theo Walcott, another speedy wing merchant. Liverpool have a plethora of interchangeable, creative players such as Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana, but the directness and pace that Mane provides will be sorely missed. Although he has refuted the link to Oxlade-Chamberlain, it would be prudent for Klopp to address this area as a matter of urgency.